Blazing His Own Trail – Harry Froling on a mission to be Australia’s top post player in the Class of 2016.

There are very few, if any, families in Australian basketball to rival the pedigree of the Frolings. With Shane Froling playing 20 years in the NBL and his wife Jenny a star of the WNBL, it is no wonder all four Froling offspring have followed in their parents’ footsteps to become basketball prodigies in their own right.

Co-MVP’s of the U18 AJC: William McDowell-White and Harry Froling

Oldest son Harrison Froling, known as Harry, is possibly the least showy and yet most determined of all the young Frolings. The 6’10” power forward (Class of 2016) delivered a great performance at the recent U18 Australian Junior Championships in Ballarat, Victoria, earning himself the LivOn Basketball Co-MVP award, alongside his teammate from from Queensland North, William McDowell-White.

Froling’s older twin sisters, Alicia and Keely, caused a flurry of recruiting interest across the U.S.A. last year and have now completed their Freshman year at SMU. Read more about the Froling Twins here. A couple of years behind Harry Froling is Samson, the youngest Froling, who has already earned some big accolades, despite being barely 15.

Being around so much basketball, it might have seemed inevitable that Harry Froling would follow suit, but it wasn’t until Froling had some close encounters with the Townsville Crocs that he truly got hooked on the game. “I fell in love with basketball when my dad was coaching the Townsville Crocs. I used to go down to the practice facility when I was five years old and watch them train and muck around.”

Even as a young kid Froling used his physicality to his advantage. Speaking of his first few years playing ball in Townsville Froling said, “I was so much bigger than everyone, so I just dominated those games.”

Today, Harry uses his height and length to great advantage. He is versatile enough to play in the paint and on the perimeter, has good skill levels and is a good rebounder and scorer. He has a toughness about him, has good ball handling ability for his size and is a decent passer. When asked to compare himself to a current Pro, Froling confides “I like to see myself as a Kevin Love type.”

Froling, who attended Adidas Nations in 2013, has continued to build his skill level throughout his time at the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence, located at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. Although he spends most of his time playing on the COE team, Froling was reunited with his old teammates at the U18 Australian Junior Championships where he represented Queensland North.

In summarising his experience in Ballarat, Froling said, “It was a good week. I enjoyed it. Coming in and playing with the boys. Playing with Will White. It was good teaming up with him. I thought we played really well but we dropped a game we really shouldn’t have and missed out on the Finals, but still overall it was good.”

Froling continued, “I think my pick and roll game is a strength, and I need to work on pick and roll and individual defence, like closing out and staying in front of my man. I had a hard time this week getting in foul trouble, which was not acceptable.” Those deficiencies were not enough to tarnish his final results, 21.5 points and 14 rebounds per game.

With the spotlight now well and truly shining in Harry Froling’s direction, what does the future hold? Like many of the men playing in this year’s Championship, Froling dreams of one day playing for the Boomers. “Representing my country is my first goal.”

Froling also wants to continue his studies and sees the U.S. College route as the best way to achieve that. “I want to play U.S. College basketball. I’ll hopefully head over next year.”

It’s no surprise, with Froling’s pedigree and recent results, that he has had a lot of colleges contacting him and coming over to see him. Froling says, “The recruiting process has gone well. At the moment I’m liking Boise State. John Rillie is a real good guy. He’s been talking to me for a long time. Nothing’s definite yet, but I’m definitely looking there. Other Colleges on my list include LMU, UNLV, New Mexico and Vanderbilt.”

Regardless of where Froling plays college basketball, there is one thing he will have to get used, his twin sisters have advised him that is the style of the game is a lot faster in the U.S. “They’ve told me the game is quicker and more athletic so adjusting to that and learning to play like that will be big.”